Illustrator Scripting :: Can Execute Action From Command-line Using AI?
Oct 9, 2012
I need to do a form of automation, but wanting to execute this from another process (self-made application). Adobe Photoshop has this mechanism called "Droplets" that are executable based upon Actions defined in Photoshop (as far as I can understand). Is it possible to let AI do some work for you from an external application as with Photoshop (assuming you are able to execute the executable once it has been created)?
I've seen on this forum a lot people saying that in CS6 you can now call an action from JavaScript. However, I haven't been able to find what the syntax is to do that in the reference or the guide. Can you actually do this now with Javascript?
I want to execute a .JSX file by using Mac Terminal Command like i am doing in MS Windows by using following cmmand: C:/ start illustrator.exe Script.jsx
its working fine but i want to do the same thing in MAC, i am working on an Application in that I am using CS6 SDK to add some functionality in my Adobe Illustrator, but didnt find any method to execute JSX files directoly from VC++/CS6 SDK.
I frequently record Illustrator Actions. My actions are quite long, but they all involve three common steps:
-Assigning Notes to shapes -Assigning Swatches to shapes -Selecting shapes that have a specific notes
I often need to re-record my actions to repeat all the steps, but to change the notes/swatches that are selected/assigned during the action.
Illustrator has a re-record command. This command is great for changing the value of the note in number 3 of my list. However, it does not work for items 1 & 2 in my list. For these items I have to delete the old step in the action and then record a new step with the new swatch/note.
I know macros in Microsoft Office have an editor which allow you to change values in actions. Is there anything similar for Illustrator actions?You can save an Illustrator action and open it in Text Edit. However, all the attribute/swatch values are saved as weird strings, so I don't know how to change them.
I need to create an action. A simple one. The idea: One path is selected, a user runs the action, it makes a copy of that path, moves the copy, select both the path and its copy and makes a blend.
I tried to record that action, but Illustrator does not record the paths selection/selecting.
Even a simplier task: How, in general, having one path selected, select an item/path above or below it? And how to select them both?
I can make a script for that, but the requirement is to keep it as simple as possible: have an Action only without any scripts, if possible.
I created an action to change the width of an image. I execute the action using DoScript javascript method.
The first action Obj1 will select the whole image and second action Obj2 will open the transform panel and change the width of the image.
app.Open("D:LWW_Castoff45991_09_03.eps") app.DoScript("Obj1", "LWW") While (app.ActionIsRunning) Thread.Sleep(500)
[Code]...
In the above code, the second action 'Obj2' is not getting executed. Both the actions are getting executed individually. Let me know the problem and how to execute both the actions.
I would like to automate an action set that selects a raster image (linked file) that has been grouped with vector art and then converts that selected raster image into a vector (live trace)
I'm using cs5 on a mac. As far as format goes I have hundreds of eps files that all have at least one raster bitmap tif which was imported as a linked file and then grouped with vector art. So I will like to run a batch script command that will select only that bitmap raster image (because I want to maintain the present vector art in the file) and convert that bitmap tif to vector- and save the file which will hopfully be in vector format.
Is it possible to trigger actions from the actions panel using javascript? I see that you can do this with AppleScript but I've written everyting so far in javascript and don't know AppleScript, though could learn it if I need to.
I'm writing a script that creates a lot of complex graphic files and have all the prototypes done except for wanting to change the color of a few of the points in a mesh object. Apparently this can't be done in javascript, so I was hoping to mid point in the script, trigger an action from the panel to edit the mesh, then let the script carry on its way.
I created an Action to batch export a folder of .ai files to create 300dpi .png's of the .ai file's artboard. I did this by simply recording "Export...as png" with my desired settings then Batch running the Action on desired folder of .ai files. The files were successfully exported, the trouble is that the exported files lack a .png file extension. My intent is to take these PNG files and merge them into a single PDF using Acrobat Pro. Unfortunatly, without the .PNG extension, Acrobat Pro does not recognize the file types and does not let me use the Combine Files feature on them. Going back and manually adding a .png at the end of the exported files defeats the time-saving purpose of Batch Processing all together. Is there something I am missing or doing incorrectly? I have included screenshots of 1) My Batch Action settings 2) folders showing files without .png extension and 3) visual of what I see when I am trying to combine PNGs into a PDF.
I have a question about using Find and Replace in an Action. For a bar chart with negative values, Illustrator will generate the value on the axis using a hyphen (e.g., -1, -2, -3). I would like to change the hyphens to en dashes (–1, –2, –3).
I have 150 graphs, so the easiest way to do this would be to use an batch action on all graphs in a folder. I first flatten the graph and then do a find-and-replace..The trouble is that I get prompted at each find and replace..Of course I can click Find, Replace All, OK, Done each time, but this essentially defeats the purpose of creating an action.
Is it possible to suppress the Find and Replace window and set the action to Replace All without prompting?
I managed to write this javascript. It automatically changes the colors from one swatch (byName) to another (byName) in my opened illustrator file. But if this one color doesn't exist as a fill or outline color in a file, I get an error message, because the script can not detect the color. The script stops. I am working on a batch of Illustrator files with 3 colors to change, but some files contain just 1 or 2 of the colors.Is there a command for javascript which says: "Only change the color, if the color appears"?
Here is the script:
var docRef = app.activeDocument; with (docRef) { var findColor = swatches.getByName('TSB Dark Blue').color; var replaceColor = swatches.getByName('TSBDB').color; [code]....
Even with a simple IPT that only has a handfull of features, at times it takes a long time (3-5 minutes, sometimes longer) for Inventor to execute a undo or redo command.
Undo file size setting in Application options is set at 1MB (which is teh same setting I used in previous versions).
I am getting an error with a script i have used before without any problems.The script updates the only image at the bottom of a single page PDF and saves the changed PDF in another folder.
It asks me to locate the folder of PDFs to be modified.It asks me to locate the folder where the modified PDFs will be saved.It asks me to select the new image that will be used.It will then update the image and resizes it and save the PDF in the specified folder.
I don't get this error on all PDFs but i get it at least once every 10 PDFs (and there are over a 1,000 PDFs).The error i get is this:
Error 1302:No such elementLine:27-> rip=doc.rasterItems[0].position;
I get this error regardless of whether the script is run in CS3 or CS5.
Additional info.I ran this script in CS3 and it worked. At a later date i ran another script on the folder of modified PDFs in CS5 that deleted any unnessesary elements outside the artboard, it selected All on the Artboard - then inversed the selection - and deleted any selected items followed by save and close.I have tried making sure the "new" image has the same name as the image being replaced but this made no difference.I am using Illustrator on Vista.
I am trying to create a script who could act as an Autocad plot (ie convert each color to black, with a different line weight).
Here is the first script I melted, who create my Black swatch
if ( app.documents.length > 0 ) { var myDoc = app.activeDocument; //add Black swatch var newSwatch = app.activeDocument.swatches.add() var newColor = new GrayColor(); newColor.gray = 100; [Code] .........
And here is the second one, who replace one color by Black (it don't change the text, nor the lineweight yet…
if ( app.documents.length > 0 ) { //test de dialogue function csDialog() { var fabGroup = app.activeDocument.swatchGroups.getByName('Fabrics'); var allFabs = fabGroup.getAllSwatches(); var fabNames = Array();
I have about 500 files that I need to change one line of text in. Example. File name is XXX 001, the line of text is the file name so it would read XXX 001. XXX 002... etc. up to XXX 500. Is there a way that I could automate it opening, changing this line of text, saving and closing?
is there any possibility to start a second illustrator instance/process; perhaps by command line parameter? If I open illustrator with "illustrator.exe c: emp est.ai" and illustrator already runs, the existing process is always used.In a specific use case test.ai should be opend in a new process if illustrator runs or not.
